


king of my heart

by acciomerlin



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Slice of Life, arthur can't sleep and he decides to make it merlin's business, it's just them talking in the middle of the night and being cute and shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28672893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acciomerlin/pseuds/acciomerlin
Summary: Arthur looked at him with hooded eyes, slowly bringing up a hand to trace the angles of his face. “Forever is a long time.”“I’m not going anywhere,” Merlin answered, taking Arthur’s hand in his own.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 257
Collections: merlin fics i read and haven't been the same since





	king of my heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OlisDrabbles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlisDrabbles/gifts).



> No plot, just pillowtalk.  
> For Oli, because they've been in a domestic Merthur mood lately <3

Merlin could only endure the tossing and turning for so long before he'd had enough.

"Arthur," he whined in a sleep-gruff voice. "stop _moving_."

"Oh good, you're awake."

Merlin frowned into his pillow. He felt that Arthur sounded too pleased and not nearly enough guilty for having roused his allegedly beloved consort in the middle of the night for something less than life-threatening danger.

"No, I'm not. And neither are you," Merlin tried. "Just stop moving so much. Goodnight."

Arthur wasn't deterred. "I can't sleep."

Merlin simply hummed, already slipping back into the inky blackness of oblivion.

"Merlin!"

Merlin snapped awake. "What?"

"I can't sleep!"

"That's _your_ business," he shot back irritably. "Leave me alone."

When there was only stubborn silence from the other end, Merlin sighed and turned on his side to face Arthur who was sulkily staring up at the canopy.

"Fine. Why can't you sleep?" Merlin indulged him.

Arthur exhaled and glanced at him. "I don't know, just can't."

"Hm, I'll have to have a word with the knights. They clearly aren't tiring you out enough."

Arthur's lips quirked up. "They could say the same to you."

Merlin snorted, falling onto his back again and finding Arthur's hand to trail light fingers on the inside of his wrist. "Then they'd be wrong."

Arthur laughed, finally moving closer and gathering Merlin into his arms.

"Noooo," Merlin groaned, even as his body instinctively leaned into Arthur's warmth, the traitor that it was.

"I can't sleep, Merlin," Arthur whispered into his ear.

"I can," Merlin informed him, closing his eyes. "So, goodnight."

There was an exasperated huff over his neck. "You're useless," Arthur grumbled, resting his head on Merlin's shoulder and going quiet finally.

However, contrary to his claim just a few moments ago, it turned out that Merlin actually _couldn't_ sleep while Arthur was clearly wide awake beside him –twitchy and restless, despite his best efforts to stay still.

Merlin sighed. "Do you want me to try that sleep spell I did on Gwaine the other day?"

"You ended up giving him a concussion," Arthur replied, voice a bit muffled against Merlin's tunic.

"It wasn't a _concussion_ ," Merlin defended. "Just a concussion-like state. He was fine and ended up sleeping soundly for the next fourteen hours."

Arthur didn't seem convinced. "Hm, I'm not risking it."

"Come on," Merlin cajoled, turning his head and nosing into his hair. "I know it would work better this time. My magic responds differently to you."

Arthur's arm tightened slightly where it lay across Merlin's stomach. "Indeed?"

"Mhmm," Merlin confirmed. "Then we could both go to sleep. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Arthur seemed to consider the offer and Merlin was almost hopeful he'd agree.

But then he remembered that Arthur was an ass.

"No. I don't trust that spell," he said finally and Merlin could hear the goading smile in his voice.

Merlin's eyes narrowed in challenge and he moved in a swift motion, turning himself over and hitching a leg over Arthur's waist to straddle him.

Arthur looked pleasantly surprised under him.

"What were you saying?" Merlin asked threateningly.

Arthur met his gaze steadily, a smile at the edge of his lips. "I said I don't trust that spell."

"I came up with that spell."

Arthur nodded. "Precisely. So, you understand why."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You wound me, my king."

Arthur's hand, which had been unsubtly about to slip inside Merlin's tunic, stilled. The atmosphere shifted.

"Say that again," he breathed.

Merlin's brows lifted. "That you wound me?"

"No, the other bit."

Merlin smiled and leaned down so their noses brushed together. "What? _My king?_ "

Their lips touched lightly and Arthur arched up for more.

"You are one, you know?" Merlin continued, just out of reach. "There was a coronation and everything. I was there."

Arthur's eyes stayed unwaveringly on Merlin's face, looking a bit dazed. "Yes, I remember."

Merlin pressed his hand over Arthur's heart, feeling the steady rhythm underneath. "Although...I claimed you as my king long before that. And just as mine some time after it."

Arthur smiled. "Yours?"

"Mine," Merlin kissed him finally, sweet and lingering. "All mine."

"Mm, sounds nice," Arthur murmured. "What are you going to do with me?"

Merlin shrugged. "Might make a few adjustments to your personality but mostly keep you right here forever, if I can help it."

Arthur looked at him with hooded eyes, slowly bringing up a hand to trace the angles of his face. “Forever is a long time.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Merlin answered, taking Arthur’s hand in his own.

Arthur’s expression was impossibly tender, something he rarely allowed himself, and his eyes shone like twin oceans in the moonlight. "You should be illegal," he said quietly, "and not because you're a sorcerer."

Merlin laughed softly. “What would be my prison? Your bedchambers?”

“Obviously. So, I can keep an eye on you and your devious tricks,” Arthur explained, blinking sluggishly and pulling him down from where their hands were laced together.

Merlin snorted, shifting into a comfortable position so he was half laying on top of Arthur, and brought up a hand to card through his hair.

“So, it won’t be much different than how it is now,” Merlin said thoughtfully. “I think I could get used to the life. No council meetings to attend, no boring feasts with stuffy nobles to sit through, not having to deal with Mordred’s constant cries of ‘ _Emrys, Emrys’_ everywhere,” Merlin rolled his eyes. “I could just lounge around in bed all day and eat off your plate and wait for you to come back. God knows I deserve this kind of break more than anyone, though I will be demanding sexual benefits, alright Arthur?”

There was silence.

"Arthur?"

Merlin lifted his head to look at him –only to find Arthur fast asleep, breathing deeply and lips slightly parted.

Merlin smiled, smoothing down Arthur's fringe and resuming his earlier position with a contented sigh, before he too fell victim to the beckoning sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Life has gotten pretty hectic all of a sudden and I don't know when I'll have the time to sit down and write something a bit longer but I hope it's soon :(  
> Anyway, writing domestic Merthur gives me immense comfort so I thought I'd share! :')


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